Unrestrained! Magazine, Issue 23

When Hostile Groove singer/guitarist Shawn McPherson is asked why he is so dedicated to the trio’s work, he’ll tell you straight up: “I got into playing in a band to stay out of trouble! I needed to do something more productive, because if it wasn’t for the band, I’d be doing a lot harder drugs or something. Playing music and being in a band is both mental and physical and it is a good place to put out time and money into and it is an art at the same time and you can express yourself. Music has helped is to control our lives.”

The band - who has just released their debut full-length album Unleash the Massattack on Massattack Records - have been playing out for a few years now, and with their latest release they hope to make a dent in the music scene.

Says Shawn, “I think when you have worked at your band for some time and have honed in on your skills with your instrument or creating the music, things become a lot easier as time goes on and the imagination of what you can do as a band inspires you more and more. I daydream all the time while I work 9 to 5 and think about what I can do with Hostile Groove and new ideas. Back in the day when I first started out it was a lot harder to be creative and had no experience, but now this is our life. Every day we live it is about Hostile Groove and what is going on.”

And there is a lot going on musically and lyrically.

“Yes, you are right,” he replies. “ I mean, we are a fun band and like to have fun, but we (the trio is rounded out by bassist Aric Wright and drummer Dan Welby) are also political at times and also just try to sing about productive things and how you can better your life. It’s all good, really. We just want people to get something out of what we do.”

About the final product of the new album, the singer states, “The number one goal for this album was to not paint ourselves into a corner with our music. We do a lot of fun stuff here, lots of rhymes and grooves, lots of screaming/death metal growls and some nu-metal sounds here and there, and that was the main thing. We didn’t want to be on just one track. We wanted to just open the door to whatever we wanted to do and have that carry over into the future releases of Hostile Groove.”

The topic turns to the band’s name. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why the band’s name was chosen. Just listen to the monstrous grooves accompanying the searing metal attack and you can put two and two together quite easily.

“I thought of the band name in 9^th grade English,” he explains. “The ‘hostile’ part comes from Pantera - I loved the song ‘Fucking Hostile’ when I was growing up - and ‘groove’ is just something, well…I love metal music but I didn’t want to be narrow minded ‘cause I like heavy music but also different kind of things. The music isn’t heavy all the time and there is some groove as well. When you hear our music, it all makes sense.”

Seeing as the band is still relatively unknown, what is the game plan for Hostile Groove to get noticed in this ever-changing and constantly growing music scene?

“I think first off, we just need to try harder than the bands next to us. Another thing is that when we go about making music for the band and whatever we do, we try not to follow any rules on how things are to be or what we should be like. We sit down as a band and discuss what we can do and how we want to do it. We are one of those bands who just can’t sit still. We aren’t upstairs in our apartments waiting to get famous or sign to a label. We are always on out feet running around and handling out samplers and our flyers. Promotion is a big deal for us and I always say, ‘Sleep is for the week if you wanna rock!’ You just need to get out and do it for yourself. If we ever go the major label route, we want to show them at least that we believe in what we do and go all out for Hostile Groove.”

He ends off, “I see a lot of good talent in our musical atmosphere, but I don’t see a lot of promotion for these bands. It isn’t a time for hoping, it is a time for doing. Now is the time to get your music out there and push the product or you’ll never get anywhere. These are the first few steps for your future and you need to be in motion for anything to happen.”

- Adrian ‘The Energizer’ Bromley